


how much is that doggy (and cute boy) in the window

by Summer_Pond



Series: Pining Chronicles [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Retail, Fluff and Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pet Store
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 12:20:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13030995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Summer_Pond/pseuds/Summer_Pond
Summary: Shiro’s monotonous daily life would be changed with the appearance of the new pet shop run by two very charming men who bewitched Shiro with words of intrigue and compassion. Where coffee and pastries become the main bartering in exchange for Shiro to spend his mornings with the two dazzling men, buzzed with soft stares and soothing sighs.(In which Shiro falls hard for the cute animals in the shop, and even harder for the shop’s co-owners Lance and Keith)





	how much is that doggy (and cute boy) in the window

**Author's Note:**

> this ended up more 'shop' than 'pet', sorry?

He noticed the new shop almost instantly.

The previous bare-boned space had been haunting, lonely in it how it seemed to create a void between the red-bricked neighbours of a massage parlor and a furniture shop that had seen better days and sales. Instead of the drab dreary colors around the vicinity, the new shop was splashed with bright yellows and splotches of blue words spread across the glass windows in neat cursive writing. Only near the top of the tall glass did the writing reside so that the main attractions would not be robbed of their audience's coos and delights.

 

And what delights indeed seemed to draw swarms of curious individuals to peer into the windows, pointing and giggling at the yapping and boisterous noises muted by the glass pane. 

 

Shiro was no better, but instead, he had a desire to watch the employees of the new business clean the glass, a blue apron wrapped around casual wear as the pane was wiped away from smudges of excited fingerprints and breaths of spit sprayed by proximity. He had been taught better so he did not stare. He just—he was just observing. That was the difference.

 

He definitely was not staring at the taut arms of a pale-skinned man who wiped the glass with an unfortunate rigorous scrub that sometimes Shiro had to wonder how it managed to stay intact from the vibrations. Not staring at the slouched shoulders pulling at a tight red shirt underneath the muted blue of the scratchy apron.

 

Shiro also definitely was not staring at the careful wipes fueled by carefree whistling coming from a darker-skinned man who seemed to almost dance to his own tune while he cleaned up the shop-front. Definitely was not watching how the long legs breezily pivoted between the two windows, spray bottle in one hand and a yellow rag in the other, clenched between slender fingers.

 

No way. He was just making inferences.

 

And if he slowed down several times walking past, trying to look into the shop aisle through casual glances, well. No one would be any the wiser. 

 

However, Shiro was still dealing with one problem. He had no idea how he was going to strike a conversation with these interesting individuals.

 

Even worse was that he had no idea about their names.

 

(He was also sure making a plan to snoop on employees while on shift was an issue itself. But well, that wasn’t going to stop him.)

 

_____

 

Shiro decided to suck it up one day and actually build up the confidence to push the door and enter the shop.

 

After grabbing his breakfast from his favourite café first.

 

With a regular long black gripped between his prosthetic hand and a crumpled brown bag with a freshly baked croissant in the other, Shiro felt pretty confident. All he had to do was push the door, exchange some pleasantries with the workers and look at the animals the shop had to offer and…

 

_SMACK_

 

Shiro felt himself slide across the concrete floor, his drink spilled, the hot liquid splattering across his freshly-pressed shirt, his poor croissant laying pathetically out on the ground as his backside met the hardness of the pavement. The impact knocked all thoughts out of him, dazed and confused Shiro shook his head. Brown boxes littered around him, supplies flowing out, bags of pet food, and squeaky toys bouncing on the pavement.

 

“Crap! I-I’m so sorry about this… I didn’t mean to ruin your shirt…!” A frantic voice directed at Shiro and he had to move his head upwards to see who had been fretting over him.

 

God, was he seeing an Angel?

 

There was an apologetic expression plastered on the stranger Shiro had bumped into, eyebrows knitted together in concern, widened eyes of blue— _God how blue they were_ —and a mouth curled in worry. Shiro found his gaze resting on the twisting lips, teeth bit into the plushness and he snapped himself out of his train of thought when he realized he was _staring_ and did not hear anything else that spilled from that pink mouth.

 

Smooth, Shiro. Smooth.

 

“You have such a pretty face.”

 

He…He did not just say that. He did not just blurt out his messy thoughts in one breath.

 

Dark skin was dashed with a heavy red glow. Eyebrows raising up, lips parting in an ‘O’ with a red tongue peeking from white teeth. Ocean gaze blinking rapidly several times. “Sorry but what?” 

 

Oh. He really did.

 

“I-I mean you have a pretty place,” Shiro fumbled through, hand gesturing at the shop front as he squinted at the name tag proudly pinned to the apron. “Lance..?”

 

“Y-Yeah! Of course…Thanks!” Lance nervously laughed, “It’s pretty new but Keith and I are hoping it's going to stick around.”

 

Keith?

 

The door jingled open, and a resigned sigh escaped. “Lance, why are all our merchandise lying on the floor…?”

 

The newcomer took a one look at the scene before widening his eyes, waving at the mess outside the shop. Purple eyes struck with shock and diluted with resignation. Black hair tied back into a short ponytail, a matching apron similar to Lance’s. “Crap. What did you do now Lance?”

 

“It was my fault; I wasn’t paying attention to where I was looking. It wasn’t Lance’s fault. Please don’t blame him.” Shiro jumped in, pushing himself up from the ground and offering his left hand to the flabbergasted Lance. Almost shyly, Lance gripped the hand and was pulled up. “Up we go.”

 

With a little more strength than Shiro expected, he pulled the other man up, prompting the latter to stumble and lightly crash into the bigger man’s build. Shiro was sure he heard a soft squeak emit from his companion, observing as the dark-skinned man was only a few inches shorter when standing to full height.

 

“Look _Sir_ , whatever happened it doesn’t change the fact that some of our merchandise has coffee on it.” There was frustration coming from the raven-head, glancing back from the floor and Shiro’s face.

 

Shiro thickly swallowed. Okay Shiro, let's focus on the ruined merchandise rather than the tingle that flowed down his spine when the pale-skinned man uttered ‘Sir’.

 

“Keith! Stop.” Lance glared at the aforementioned Keith, “It’s our problem, you can’t expect to let a stranger deal with this.”

 

 _“Lance_.” Keith hissed, returning the glare with his own heated expression. “You can’t expect this to not eat into our savings in replacing the ruined stock.”

 

A guilty expression rested on Lance’s face and Shiro couldn’t bear that saddened look that drooped Lance’s shoulders and demeanour, almost like Lance was a kicked puppy. 

 

“I’ll pay for the reparations. Name your price.” Shiro pulled out his wallet and levelled a careful disposition at the crossed-arms of the raven-head.

 

“Two-hundred and Fifty.” Came the curt reply, smooth without a second’s hesitation.   

 

“Keit-“ A strangled cry came from Shiro’s side but he ignored it.

 

“Done.” Shiro picked the exact amount and offered it to Keith. There was a glimmer of surprise and as the purple-eyed man unravelled his arms and accepted the money with new hesitation that bled through.

 

The bills were crumbled in Keith’s hands, a scrunched up expression that seemed to ooze guilt.

 

“Look I’m sorry about the mess I caused.” Shiro took a quick glance at the time on his watch. Ten minutes. Shit. ”I got to go right now. But seriously, if I need to pay more, here’s my card and you can contact me if need be.” He swiped his business card from one of the slits and handed the card, before giving a nod and began a fast-paced gait to his workplace.

 

He was only a few minutes late when he dropped into his cubicle and rested his sweaty forehead on his trembling hands. Thoughts racing at every single interaction he shared with this Lance and Keith. It was way too early to be having a gay crisis.

 

He hadn’t even changed from his dirty clothes.

 

Really it was only Monday morning.

 

_____

 

“That’ll be eight-fifty thanks.”

 

Shiro passed a ten to Hunk, waving off the change. “Keep it.”

 

The other man gave a grin, “Thanks man. How was the blind date Allura set you up for last week?”

 

Shiro groaned, pressing his organic fingers to his creased forehead. “A trainwreck. My date couldn’t keep off their phone the whole night. It sucked big time.”

 

“Oh gosh, that bad?” Hunk made a sympathetic noise, “Here wait a bit.” The darker-skinned man hopped to the back, swiping some goods and placed it in the already occupied paper bag. “On the House.” The bag was ceremoniously placed into Shiro’s outstretched hand. Upon Shiro’s imminent retort, Hunk raised his palm up. ”Seriously take it. I’ve been doing some experiments so you get to be my guinea pig if you really want a reason for some freebies. All that I’m asking is some feedback alright?”

 

Shiro closed his mouth. A pout almost occurring before he sighed. “Fine, thank you anyway. Bye Hunk, tell Shay I hope she’s getting better as soon as possible”

 

As the door shut and Shiro left the shop, he peered into his almost overflowing goodie-bag. He had his regular croissant, fresh from the oven stuffed at the bottom, but Hunk had shoved two extra pastries, a ball of soft chocolate bread and a crisp prism of dough with bits of berry embedded in the delicacy. That was definitely way too much for Shiro whose sweet tolerance was much lower than he would have liked.

 

As he looked up, he realized with a growing horror that he subconsciously had walked right outside Lance and Keith’s store. His movements stilled and he was about to turn away when the door opened and Keith walked out, rag in hand and spray bottle in the other.

 

“Morning.” A short reply reached Shiro’s ears and at this point, he knew there was no running away.

 

“Good morning,” Shiro replied, the words almost getting stuck in his throat. “Are you and Lance working today?”

 

“Yeah, we are.” Keith gave a curious look. “Why are you asking?” The blunt words jabbed at Shiro’s conscious.

 

“My friend gave me extra pastries and since I’m too full from my breakfast, I was wondering if you two wanted the extras.” The explanation slid out and Shiro felt his breath quicken.

 

Keith raised an eyebrow. He shrugged, gesturing inside. “If you want to give food you should go over to Lance first, I’ll take whatever is left.”

 

“Thanks.” Shiro faltered, watching as Keith fell back into his routine of scrubbing the window pane. The taller man pushed the door and stepped inside.

 

There was noise suddenly everywhere. If it wasn’t the barking, it was the meowing. If it wasn’t that then the squawks of the birds filled the air, and even more so the sound of the filter system for the small aquariums in the background.

 

Shiro felt himself walk along the aisles, observing at the diversity of pet foods, pet toys and equipment and hygienic materials. It wasn’t until he saw Lance’s back, carefully fiddling with merchandise on the counter’s wall that Shiro felt the need to breathe through his mouth.

 

Be cool Shiro. You could do this.

 

“Hey there Lance,” Shiro spoke, watching as Lance perked his head up and turned around. ”I’m not sure if you remember me but-“

 

 _“Takeshi_ right? That was what was on your business card yeah?” Lance breathlessly replied, sliding his hands across his apron.

 

Huh. So, that was definitely not what Shiro was expecting, especially the reaction he felt as his name rolled off Lance’s tongue. He had to keep himself together.

 

“Uh that’s me. Yes. But you can call me Shiro, that’s what I usually go by.” Shiro felt tongue-tied, “I got some extra pastries today so I was wondering if you wanted them. I asked Keith already and he said that you would be interested first?”

 

Lance’s eyes sparkled at the mention of the sweet goods. “Heck yeah! I’m not going to turn down free food.”

 

Shiro passed the bag to Lance, letting out a breath as he did. Watching as Lance picked one of the pastries out, fingers wrapped around the prism piece and generously bit into it, crumbs falling from his mouth as his other hand hastily trying to capture the debris before it fell onto the carpeted floor. Lance gave a sheepish grin, mouth sprinkled with brown flakes and Shiro really needed to take a deeper breath before he said or did something stupid.

 

“Jeez, this is delicious. Whoever made this is a genius.” Lance gushed, thumbing the corners of his lips as he lightly licked the remaining crumbs.

 

“I’ll tell him that.” Shiro said, “You like sweet stuff?”

 

Lance scoffed, “Of course. Sweet stuff rules. Too bad Keith usually ends choosing his bitter stuff and I have to deal with that.” Lance gave an exasperated expression, ”Can you believe he drinks his coffee black with no sugar or pumps of any flavor at all?”

 

“...Actually I can. Since I drink my coffee like that too.” Shiro replied seeing how Lance’s face made a betrayed expression. “Sorry.”

 

“Traitor. I can’t believe this. Under my roof too!” Lance pressed his hands against his heart in a dramatic display, “Oh such cruelty, how can I recover?”

 

“Stop flirting with the customer and actually do your job maybe.” A voice came behind Shiro and the Japanese man slightly jumped at the surprise.

 

“Keith please. You do not get to say that. Your idea of cleaning seems more you’re trying to rub out the existence of our store window.” Lance huffed out. “Here’s your part of the gift that Shiro so kindly bought us.”

 

Keith met Shiro’s eyes, almost reluctantly. “…Thanks for it. And…for the other stuff too.”

 

“Eloquent Keith. Stuff.” Lance teased.

 

“Shush. I’m going to take my break now.” Keith pouted back, snatching the paper bag out of Lance’s hand and stomped off.

 

Shiro watched as Keith left, turning back to Lance with interest. “Can he do that?”

 

Lance huffed out, “Well considering he’s co-owner with me, yeah he can do that. Perks of running your own business. Not that it makes up the stress of keeping it afloat.”

 

“You’re the owners?”

 

Lance almost seemed to puff his chest out with pride. “Yeah! Both of us put our savings into buying the business from the previous owner. We’ve always wanted to run our own shop and we jumped on this opportunity as soon as possible.” Lance winched, his shoulders dropping, “Which, uh, might not have been the best idea since the location almost sucks, and it’s really hard to try and advertise that this shop is open.”

 

Shiro tapped a finger on his chin. “What about maybe live streaming some of your animals on the Internet. It’ll give you some exposure and get some interest for possible pet-owners.”

 

Lance’s eyes glittered with hope. “Oh that sounds super cool!” As soon as the excitement came, it went. The continuing words were dipped in sadness. “But I wouldn’t have the faintest clue how to set-up something like that.”

 

“I could help you. I work in IT, so it shouldn’t be too much trouble.” Shiro offered. He didn’t even give a second thought in offering his services. His completely G-rated services. Completely innocent.

 

No ulterior moves at all. Nope.

 

…

 

Maybe if he said it enough times he would believe it.

 

“Oh! I mean, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.” Lance seemed to brighten up instantly, eyes sparkling with renewed interest and really dear God Shiro felt an urgent need to bite his lip from making any weird noises. “I-we, Keith and I would definitely appreciate it.”

 

“Great.” The words were pushed out, “I’ll be back in a few days with the necessary equipment.”

 

“How would we pay you?” Lance cocked his head, and Shiro inwardly wept at how adorable it was.

 

“Just take it as a favor, how about that?”

 

_____

 

 

Shiro juggled the cardboard container that held the three plastic cups of coffee, balancing that with the large paper bag chock-full of fresh delicacies as he swept himself through the door, making sure there was no one behind coming out (he learnt from his experiences) and briskly made way to the counter. Settling the goods with wariness, he lifted his head to see who was in the shop.

 

“Just you Keith?”

 

The other Asian man hummed noncommittally, holding a small kitten in his hands, smoothing over the creature with loving strokes. “Yeah, Lance is doing errands so it's just me. And Snow White here.” The kitten mewled, long white and black fur spraying across Keith’s apron which the man barely even blinked from the potential mess. 

 

“Busy week?” Shiro began small-talk, deliberate to slowly coax a conversation from Keith who was more reserved in comparison to the long-winded conversations Lance usually sported. 

 

“Definitely busier than last week. The live stream with the puppies got a lot more attention than I expected. We got the offers of adoptions quicker than we could deal with normally. But its good.” Keith commented, still idly stroking the cat’s fur and scratching under the ears of the animal. “We should easily be able to make this week’s budget no sweat. There are a lot more customers now.” There was a tight smile that crept on his face, which watered as Keith met Shiro’s attention. “Thank you. I never quite got to say thanks for everything you’ve done, but I’m grateful...really.”

 

“You don’t have to thank me…” Shiro softly replied, walking towards the kneeling man. “You guys deserve this, really. I’m glad I helped out, but if it wasn’t for your tenacity and organization then anything I try would fall apart anyway.”

 

“You shouldn’t sell yourself short. All this,” Keith waved at the coffee and treats on the counter, “And setting up the stuff for the live stream, that’s not something that just anyone could do Shiro.” There was a hitch in Keith’s throat, and tenderness in his next lines, “You helped me, you helped Lance, both of us when we were at a bad time. And we won't ever forget that.”

 

Shiro felt a loss for words. Just how was he supposed to respond to something so heartfelt, something so rich in kindness, cradled with Keith’s bare feelings laying out so honest that Shiro could have kissed the other man then and there.

 

“Seriously my boyfriend and I are forever in your debt.”

 

Wait. Hold on. The train of thought in Shiro’s head came to a skidding halt.

 

“Boyfriend…? Wait, you and Lance are…?” The accusation crawled out, drenched with a hidden ugliness.

 

There was a sudden steely atmosphere that Keith exuded, and his voice became rough and low. ”Is that going to be an issue?”

 

“NO!” Shiro’s reaction was instantaneous, and he cringed as his voice came out loudly, “I mean, no. Nothing wrong with that. I mean, I’m gay too, so it would be awkward if I did…”

 

“Oh.” Keith’s soft remark followed a slow pinking of his cheeks, “Sorry, its an instinctual thing for me, I’ve gotten some bad reactions before so I was just on edge.”

 

“I get it, I completely understand.” Shiro hurriedly replied, he forced a smile as he waved casually. “How long have you been together?”

 

“Five years.” The answer came out and Shiro felt his heart drop. Five years. He had no chance.  

 

“That long huh, and you finally decided to get a shop together?” Shiro joked with a forced tease in his voice. Oh, it stung.

 

“Yeah. Our landlord doesn’t allow pets, so this the closest we’ll get to have a happy family.” Keith snorted, playing with the meowing cat’s tiny paws, the pink toe-beans lightly being pushed by Keith’s precise fingers. “Wanna touch how soft her feet are?” Keith grinned and lifted himself up from the ground, handling the kitten towards Shiro. An excited fever glazed over Keith’s eyes as he smiled at Shiro with a certain vulnerability and kindness.

 

“Sure.” Came Shiro’s poor attempt at sounding excited. What sucked was that tonight he would sleep knowing that Lance and Keith would arrive home, warm and cozy from their blissful love, while his own empty apartment would welcome him with nothing but the silence of the hallway.

 

Even as Shiro felt the heat from Keith’s hands when the other man transferred the cat to the former, and even as Keith pressed himself closer to Shiro as Snow White’s backstory of being found on a TV-show set was being rattled out, Shiro felt a coldness smother his insides.

 

Oh God, what was he doing? Actively in love with two people who were already together.

 

He was the worst.

_____

 

He couldn’t just stop coming to the shop. That would have insinuated that he was only interested in the two of them romantically and as soon as he found out they were together, it shooed him away meaning he was just there for the eye-candy. He was not.

 

He genuinely wanted to be friends with these two men, wanted to support them in their dreams, to see their achievements come to life and to offer a shoulder for the bad days.

 

He also, unfortunately, was so smitten he couldn’t see how he could keep a distance from Lance and Keith without feeling the clenching of his heart as he watched every soft look exchanged between the two of them in precious moments.

 

He wasn’t sure how long he could take before he broke.

 

He took a deep breath, his usual goods in his hands as he pushed the door open, breathing exercises keeping his heart steady.

 

“Hey-“

 

Hold on. That wasn’t Lance or Keith. Instead of the mentioned men, there was a girl standing behind the counter, light brown hair pulled in a high pony-tail, darker brown eyes almost seemingly not focusing on anything in particular until the girl saw Shiro.

 

“Oh hey, Shiro. How are you?” The girl lazily spoke, almost enjoying his confusion.

 

“Sorry, but how do you know me…?” Shiro cautiously replied, watching as the girl raised both her eyebrows.

 

“Lance! Keith! Your _Sugar_ Daddy is here!” The girl yelled to the back and there was a resounding crash that echoed in the shop. “Does that answer your question?”

 

Absolutely not.

 

“Kind of.” Shiro weakly replied.

 

“Pidge, I swear, we do not pay you to be snarky to the customers.” Lance’s screeched voice floated by, as the man walked out, clearly flustered. Keith didn’t seem in any better mood, with his hair not being put in his usual pony-tail, instead of reaching down his shoulders in inky waves. Both men had a light blush etched on their face, and eyes that seemed to avoid Shiro’s questioning gaze.

 

“I got you guys something different this time. Hunk was experimenting, so all the pastries are work-in-progresses, and he decided to make a new drink for you Lance.” Shiro cleared his throat and handed the treats out, gripping Lance’s drink and passing it to the darker-skinned man.

 

“Gosh, thanks Shiro. You’re an absolute babe. Keith and I could totally blow you for being so nice to us.” Lance absentmindedly replied, too engrossed in peering at the new pastries, not observing how Shiro flushed a gorgeous red while Keith spluttered. 

 

A few seconds passed, silence hovering over everyone. It wasn’t until Pidge howled with laughter did Lance realize his slip-up.

 

“I-I mean, like metaphorically! You know, like a representation of how thankful Keith and I feel about how you’ve been so nice to us. Not like it would be a bad thing if we blew you, cause Keith definitely knows his way around the male genitalia and like people show off appreciation by blowjobs and I’m going to shut up right now.” Lance frantically rasped out, flickering his gaze between Keith who had his hands on his blushing face and Shiro’s shocked stare. 

 

“Oh my God, this is gold. Matt is going to crack up when I tell him.” Pidge’s giggles filled the tenseness as Lance muttered out a very strained ‘I want to die’ while Keith avoided any human interaction as he curled up and pressed his hands even harder on his face.

 

Shiro couldn’t believe what had just happened. What did it mean? Were they joking or was it a Freudian slip?

 

Shiro was so so screwed. 

**Author's Note:**

> now it's officially even for t-rated mutual pining


End file.
